A family owned business in the construction industry was hit with a grade four by Ofsted, in a poor week for all types of FE providers.

Independent learning provider Total Training Company (UK) Limited was declared ‘inadequate’ in its first full inspection, after being found making ‘insufficient progress’ in an early monitoring report published in February.

It received a grade four in every assessed area except behaviour and attitudes, which ‘requires improvement’. At the time of the inspection there were 166 adult learners and 25 apprentices across the north east and the west midlands.

The report stated that learners and apprentices “do not experience a well-planned programme of study” and they are “not supported to develop their talents or interests”.

Leaders do not have a good understanding of the quality of provision

Ofsted also found that only a “low” proportion of adult learners successfully gain employment or move onto further learning while “too many apprentices leave their programme early”.

However, safeguarding arrangements were considered “effective”.

Another independent learning provider, Development Processes Group PLC, received three ‘insufficient progress’ ratings in its early monitoring visit this week, meaning it will soon be suspended from taking on new apprentices.

At the time of the monitoring visit, 92 apprentices were on standards-based human resource apprenticeship programmes throughout England.

The leaders were found to “rely too much on their subcontractor” and to “not take full responsibility for the quality of the provision”.

The report said apprentices were not recruited to the “most appropriate programmes” and apprenticeships were not planned “effectively,” resulting in on-the-job training and learning needs not being met.

Independent learning provider Dhunay Corporation Ltd was found making ‘insufficient progress’ in all areas of its follow-up monitoring visit this week, after receiving a grade three in a full inspection last December.

At the time of the monitoring visit, there were six apprentices on the associate project management apprenticeship. The inspectorate concluded that leaders “do not have a good understanding of the quality of provision” and have “not been swift enough to implement improvements”.

No project management apprentices have achieved their qualifications within the planned timescales and although the disruption with their programmes was considered to have improved recently, the report still found that “they do not benefit from well-structured teaching and assessment”.

Independent learning provider The Academy Hub Ltd received an ‘insufficient progress’ grade in regards to safeguarding in its follow-up monitoring visit but the report said “the director of the company did not respond to inspectors’ requests to provide evidence or contribute towards the monitoring visit until after the inspection had taken place”.

Employer provider Barchester Healthcare Limited dropped from a grade two to a grade three this week. The independent health care company trains 26 apprentices.

Leaders were said not to plan the curriculum for apprentices in a logical way and it was stated that while staff are knowledgeable and experienced, they do not “assess well” apprentices’ gaps in their knowledge, skills and behaviours.

Greater Brighton Metropolitan College also fell from a grade two to a three. It was formed after a merger in 2017 and has around 3,000 learners aged 16 to 18, around 2,500 adult learners and 1,500 apprentices.

Most adult students experience “well-taught” courses and most students aged 16 to 18 on courses at level 3 do “very well” but apprentices “do not experience consistently high-quality teaching and training”.

Moreover, inspectors concluded governors, leaders and managers “have not identified weaknesses accurately or acted quickly enough to improve the quality of education”.

Southampton City College was found making ‘insufficient progress’ in one area and ‘reasonable progress’ in two others in a monitoring report, after receiving a grade three in a full inspection last year.

Governors, leaders and managers have not identified weaknesses accurately

The education watchdog criticised the progress leaders and managers had made in improving the quality of feedback that students and apprentices receive.

In more positive news, employer provider Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and independent learning provider Train2Train Limited received two ‘significant progress’ grades and one ‘reasonable progress’ grade in their monitoring visits.

Additionally, independent learning providers The West Midlands Creative Alliance Limited and Impact Futures Training
Limited both received ‘good’ grades in their first full inspections.

Adult and community learning provider Springboard received four ‘reasonable progress’ rating in a monitoring report this week, after receiving a grade three in a full inspection last year.

The other adult and community learning provider assessed this week, charity V Learning Net, maintained its ‘good’ rating in a short inspection.

Sixth Form College Henley College also received another grade two in a full inspection.

West Herts College Group, which was formed after a merger in February 2019, was found to have made ‘significant progress’ in two assessed areas and ‘reasonable progress’ across two other themes in a monitoring visit.

The remaining independent learning providers received ‘reasonable progress’ across the board in their monitoring visits.

These were: Abbeydale Vetlink Veterinary Training Limited, Dove Nest Management Training and Development Limited, Kiwi Education Ltd, North London Garages GTA and Whitby & District Fishing Industry Training School Limited.

Independent Learning Providers	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
Abbeydale Vetlink Veterinary Training Limited	31/10/2019	20/11/2019	M	N/A
Development Processes Group PLC	15/10/2019	19/11/2019	M	N/A
Dhunay Corporation Ltd	16/10/2019	22/11/2019	M	3
Dove Nest Management Training and Development Limited	31/10/2019	22/11/2019	M	N/A
Kiwi Education Ltd	31/10/2019	20/11/2019	M	N/A
North London Garages GTA	16/10/2019	20/11/2019	M	2
The Academy Hub Ltd	30/10/2019	19/11/2019	M	M
The West Midlands Creative Alliance Limited	08/11/2019	21/11/2019	2	M
Total Training Company (UK) Limited	01/11/2019	22/11/2019	4	M
Train 2 Train Limited	06/11/2019	21/11/2019	M	N/A
Whitby & District Fishing Industry Training School Limited	07/11/2019	20/11/2019	M	2

Impact Futures Training Limited

11/10/2019

21/11/2019

2

M

 

Sixth Form Colleges (inc 16-19 academies)	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
The Henley College	25/10/2019	18/11/2019	2	2

 

Adult and Community Learning	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
Springboard	31/10/2019	19/11/2019	M	3
V Learning Net	31/10/2019	19/11/2019	2	2

 

Employer providers	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
Barchester Healthcare Limited	24/10/2019	18/11/2019	3	2
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust	23/10/2019	19/11/2019	M	N/A

 

General FE colleges	Inspected	Published	Grade	Previous grade
Greater Brighton Metropolitan College	11/10/2019	18/11/2019	3	2
Southampton City College	23/10/2019	18/11/2019	M	3
West Herts College	06/11/2019	18/11/2019	M	2

Leading bodies within the FE sector have teamed up with local government to launch research into a crisis in special educational needs and disability (SEND) funding for those aged over 16.

In response to “massive pressure on stretched local authority high-needs budgets”, a tender to investigate existing arrangements for the over-16s with SEND, and what constitutes good practice, has been published by the Association of Colleges, Natspec and the Local Government Association.

A Natspec spokesperson said new ways for colleges to work with local authorities in a “constructive way” needed to be found to make the “best use of available resources on both sides”.

The specialist FE providers’ organisation hopes the research “will help local authorities and colleges to come to a common agreement about the FE SEND provision that should be available everywhere, and the more specialist services that would be more cost-effective to provide regionally or nationally”.

Natspec also hopes that it will fill in the gaps about how councils commission high-needs education for those over 16 as “not enough work has been done on the current state of play relating to local authority commissioning of post-16 high-needs education”.

The tender follows repeated warnings from MPs, college principals and the charitable sector about the health of the post-16 SEND system since the Children and Families Act 2014 extended local authorities’ statutory duty to those with SEND up to the age of 25.

The parliamentary education select committee reported last month on how pupils with SEND were “faced with a lack of choice and inclusivity at college”. Some colleges were reluctant to put on courses for students with SEND as the funding was insufficient.

Their inquiry had heard from FE principals including Pat Brennan-Barrett, principal of Northampton College, who warned the committee that there was a “postcode lottery of funding”. Beatrice Barleon, policy development manager at Mencap, said one of the challenges created by the act was “implementation across all the different local authorities”.

A Local Government Association report last year, titled “Have we reached a tipping point?”, found their post-16 responsibilities, more than any other factor, were blamed by councils for cost pressures on their high-needs budget.

Julian Gravatt, deputy chief executive for the Association of Colleges said those recent reports “confirm what college staff and students already know, which is that the post-16 high-needs system isn’t working”.

He added: “The system is costly to administer, is unpredictable and cuts off support to young adults too early.”

An LGA spokesperson said of the tender: “Councils want to work with the next government and families and children with SEND to make the system work more effectively for everyone.”

The Department for Education launched a consultation in May on how to improve funding arrangements for learners with high needs.

The government said at the time that it “understands the cost pressures facing both local authorities and post-16 providers as they seek to meet the needs and ambitions of young people, and the need for appropriate levels of funding”.

The tender is worth between £10,000 and £25,000 and closes for applications on 6 December.

This morning the Labour Party launched their manifesto ahead of the general election on 12 December (click here to download).

Here’s what the document says about FE and skills.

Further Education and Lifelong Learning

“With automation and the Green Industrial Revolution bringing major changes to industry, it is more important than ever that people have the opportunity to retrain and upskill throughout their lives.

“Under the Tories, adult education has undergone 10 years of managed decline. England already faces a shortage of people with higher-level technical qualifications, and demand for these skills will only grow as we create new green jobs.

“Instead of investing in people to prepare them for the jobs of the future, the Conservatives have slashed funding and cut opportunities.

“Labour will ensure fairness and sustainability in further education, aligning the base rate of per-pupil funding in post-16 education with Key Stage 4, providing dedicated capital funding to expand provision and bringing back the Education Maintenance Allowance as the Welsh Labour Government has done.

“Labour will make lifelong learning a reality, giving everyone a free lifelong entitlement to:

• Training up to Level 3.
• Six years training at Levels 4-6, with maintenance grants for disadvantaged learners.

“We will introduce additional entitlements for workers in industries that are significantly affected by industrial transition.

“We will reverse the fragmentation and privatisation of further and adult education

“We will make sure training delivers the right skills by giving employers a role in co-design and co-production of qualifications.

“We will restore funding for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses and restore and expand the

“Union Learning Fund, giving workers the right to accrue paid time off for education and training.

“Labour will reform existing careers advice, working towards an integrated information, advice and guidance system that covers the entire NES.

“We will reverse the fragmentation and privatisation of further and adult education, incorporating it into a single national system of regulation that functions for education as our NHS does for healthcare provision.”

Skills

“Our Green Industrial Revolution will create at least one million well-paid, unionised jobs in the UK. We will train people in the skills they need to access these jobs of the future.

“Britain’s skills crisis has grown under the Tories. The Apprenticeship Levy has been beset by problems, leaving employers paying into a training budget they are unable to spend. And it is not delivering for small businesses. We cannot afford to carry on like this.

“Labour will make it easier for employers to spend the levy by allowing it to be used for a wider range of accredited training, in line with guidelines set by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education and government’s wider priorities for the economy.

“We will launch a Climate Apprenticeship programme to enable employers to develop the skills needed to lead the world in clean technology.

“Under this programme, employers will be expected to allocate 25% of the funds in their Apprenticeship Levy accounts to training Climate Apprentices. These funds can be spent directly or allocated to a ring-fenced

“Climate Apprenticeship Fund, which will be topped up with any surplus raised through Inclusive Ownership Funds and made accessible to non-levy- paying businesses.

“Targeted bursaries will be available to women, BAME people, care leavers, ex-armed forces personnel, and people with disabilities to encourage them to take up climate apprenticeships – the STEM of the future.

“We will further help small businesses by increasing the amount that can
be transferred to non-levy-paying employers to 50% and introducing an online matching service to help levy-paying businesses find smaller businesses to transfer their funds to.”

Ex-Greene King boss Rooney Anand spoke of his excitement today as he made his debut as WorldSkills UK chair on the first day of the organisation’s LIVE! event.

Anand told VIPs at a business breakfast at the Birmingham NEC, where the event is being held: “I hope, like me, you are very excited by what happens over the next three days in Birmingham.

“I believe passionately that business leaders must help young people fill their potential and WorldSkills is one of the very best vehicles through which we can do that.

“It is the only vehicle that captures and leverages in the field of skills building.”

Anand took over from former WorldSkills UK chair Carole Stott in January. He stepped down as chief executive of Greene King after 14 years in April.

The businessman told those at the breakfast: “Our job here, all of us, is to help young people take that crucial first step on that career ladder.

“WorldSkills is unique because it brings together educators, business, government and young talent of the future – the whole skills system under one enormous roof. So together we can explore what we can all do to help so that young people get on.

“We don’t just believe we make a difference – we do.”

The sentiment was echoed by colleges that had stalls and activities running at the event.

Dudley College’s curriculum manager, Dennis Stephens, told FE Week: “There is nothing greater than when you see them when they have won. It’s fantastic.”

The college has been involved with WorldSkills UK for “numerous years”, Dennis said, and has competitors in hair and beauty and construction metalwork taking part in this year’s national finals at WorldSkills UK LIVE.

The finals are being used by WorldSkills UK to help find the team to take to WorldSkills Shanghai in 2021, where skilled young people from the UK will compete against those from other nations.

Dennis continued: “We have promoted WorldSkills within the college, we dedicate lessons to it and have got WorldSkills champions to spend time with the tutors.” This is “really invigorating for them”.

Dudley has taken 1,600 staff and learners to the show this year and he believes it is “worthwhile” and a “great experience”.

He added: “The staff enjoy it. They volunteer to come down and do as much as they can.”

Leicester College’s digital and events team leader, Wajeeda Yusuf, said that her college got involved in WorldSkills as they believed “it was important to showcase vocational study, as well as academic study”.

She continued: “There are some amazing competitions happening around the NEC at the moment and it’s great for us to be involved.”

Around 280 businesses are present at WorldSkills UK LIVE – including the British Army, which has brought armoured vehicles, a live band and a climbing wall.

The British Esports Association is running live tournaments of the popular video game, Rocket League.

Halesowen College had a lively trade offering face painting for the throngs of schoolchildren who attended today.

Ben Blackledge, deputy chief executive of WorldSkills UK, said: “Twenty thousand jobs, apprenticeships and training courses – all under one roof. This is an exceptional opportunity for anyone looking to secure skills and a rewarding career. 

“We want to give young people an inspirational insight into what their future career could be, and by working with the UK’s leading employers, education and training organisations at LIVE they can access careers advice and see the skills they need to reach their full potential.”

FE Week is the official media partner of WorldSkills UK LIVE and is providing live coverage from all three days of the event.

Labour has pledged to raise the base rate of per-student funding in FE to secondary-school levels and expand the apprenticeship levy if it wins power.

Jeremy Corbyn launched the party’s manifesto at Birmingham City University today ahead of the general election on December 12.

The Labour leader vowed that the party would “make lifelong education a right” and “value technical education as highly as academic learning”.

The manifesto said it was “more important than ever that people have the opportunity to retrain and upskill throughout their lives” with automation and the green revolution bringing major changes to industry.

If elected Labour would reform the apprenticeship levy by allowing it to be used for a wider range of accredited training, launch a climate apprenticeship programme and provide targeted bursaries to encourage the participation of women, black, Asian and minority ethnic people, care leavers, ex-armed forces personnel and people with disabilities.

The manifesto added: “We will reverse the fragmentation and privatisation of further and adult education, incorporating it into a single national system of regulation that functions for education as our NHS does for healthcare provision.”

It is not clear if this would mean that private training providers would no longer have access to public money or whether reversing privatisation would include apprenticeship funding.

Labour was approached to clarify the policy but had not responded at the time of publication.

FE Week previously reported that colleges’ status as independent corporations could be at risk under Labour’s plan for free lifelong learning in 2017, as the party wanted to bring them back under local authority control.

The Labour Party confirmed its intention to abolish the education watchdog, stating in the manifesto: “We will replace Ofsted and transfer responsibility for inspections to a new body, designed to drive school improvement.”

It also said: “Labour will ensure fairness and sustainability in further education,” outlining plans to provide dedicated capital funding to expand provision and reform existing careers advice.

In the accompanying Funding Real Change document, the party announced it will spend £1.4 billion on the restoration of the education maintenance allowance, equalising 16 to 19 funding with key stage 4 and the Union Learning Fund (to give workers the right to accrue paid time off for education and training).

The gap in per-student funding between secondary and 16-18 education was 9 per cent in 2017-18, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The recommendations from Labour’s independent commission on lifelong learning, including free key stage 3 and key stage 4-plus (training with maintenance grants for disadvantaged learners) and the restoration of English for Speakers of Other Languages funding, would cost £3.3 billion.

As Labour announced last week, it would introduce a free lifelong entitlement to training up to level 3, as well as six years of training at levels 4 to 6, with maintenance grants for disadvantaged learners.

The manifesto states that all new spending, marked for 2023/24, is in addition to that announced in all previous fiscal events, up to and including spending round 2019.

Association of Colleges Chief Executive David Hughes praised the announcements.

“The Labour manifesto offers a strong package for the future, with the potential to make real change, for business, for individuals, and for communities,” he said.

“Their commitment to raising the base rate for 16-19 funding, offering a boost for adult and life-long learning, and the reintroduction of an education maintenance allowance, provides a vision for a society that has an ambitious, people-centred education and skills system at the heart of it.”

Mark Dawe, chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, said apprenticeship delivery has a “key part to play in improving skills at all levels and we would be happy to work with a new government to see how reform of the levy can make a real difference”.

However, “we have repeatedly said to Labour, the Liberal Democrats and other bodies that allowing the levy to pay for other forms of training would be premature, especially when current demand for apprenticeships by employers means that the levy is now being overspent”.

Two leading skills organisations have called for a rethink of the construction T-level curriculum ahead of the qualification’s launch next year, as they fear its current set-up is out of date.

It should be changed to include “commissioning and design” based on Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA) methodologies, which have been used in northern Europe and elsewhere for decades, according to WorldSkills UK and awarding body NOCN.

“The DFMA approach is based upon maximising the proportion of a building or infrastructure asset that is made in a controlled manufacturing environment and hence reducing the time on-site,” a new joint report explains.

It adds that this concept should, ideally, be added to the T-level construction curriculum before its launch in September 2020.

The two organisations are launching their new report ‘Seeing is Believing: Accessing the World’s Best Skills Innovations’ this morning on the first day of this year’s WorldSkills UK LIVE!, where thousands are expected to attend Birmingham’s NEC to see national skills competitions and meet employers.

Graham Hasting-Evans (pictured), chief executive of NOCN, which is a specialist in construction curriculum after taking over CITB’s assessment arm called CSkills Awards in 2017, worked with WorldSkills UK on the report after visiting the this year’s WorldSkills competition in Russia.

He told delegates at WorldSkills UK LIVE! on Thursday the “big thing” he heard in Russia was skills systems have to be agile and to change with technology, but the UK’s system is not “quick enough” or “agile enough”.

Whereas Hong Kong, which has around the same number of job types in their construction industry as the UK, were able to change their curriculum to introduce new technologies in 12 months, “nobody has a clue” how long it would take in the UK.

Hasting-Evans also said the UK has “missed the opportunity” on T-levels, and the government’s flagship qualification is “not going to prepare us for the skills we need”.

“We need to rethink the structure and curriculum of the construction T-level if we are to drive up productivity in the sector.”

He said about WorldSkills Kazan: “There was a great opportunity to enhance and adapt the learning from other countries and build upon the progress the sector has made on skills over several decades.

“We need to increase productivity by greater use of digital and artificial technologies as well as a move a greater proportion of off-manufacturing (referred to as DFMA) for new construction.”

Two other WorldSkills UK reports will be launched today, including one with the RSA and FETL, which studied best practice in four countries – Shanghai, Singapore, Russia and Switzerland – that have used skills to boost productivity and grow their economies.

The other is with the University of Oxford which focuses on “mainstreaming WorldSkills methodologies to achieve world-class standards in the FE sector”.

Dr Neil Bentley-Gockmann, chief executive of WorldSkills UK, said skills are the “most valuable national resource of all” and “we’ve got before us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build the kind of skills systems that will teach all young people into the 2030s and beyond”.

FE Week is the official media partner of WorldSkills UK LIVE and will be bringing live coverage from the event from Thursday to Saturday.

Three FE colleges in England have been announced as winners of the Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for 2018-2020 in a ceremony at St James’s Palace.

London South East Colleges, Dudley College of Technology and Tyne Coast College were among the 22 education providers recognised in the awards. They were recommended by the prime minister and approved by the Queen.

The prizes will be officially presented by a senior member of the Royal Family in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in February.

Dr Sam Parrett, principal of London South East Colleges, said: “London South East Colleges has a very long history of supporting technical and vocational education and this award is a real celebration of our work, reflecting our well-regarded and high-performing education group.

“It’s also fantastic to be representing FE, showcasing some of the pioneering and innovative work that is taking place in our incredible, yet often overlooked, sector.”

London South East Colleges, based in Bromley, was chosen in recognition of the technical and vocational education on offer, including its “pioneering” of a strategic engagement programme within the construction industry.

Tyne Coast College, created from a merger of South Tyneside College and Tyne Metropolitan College, was chosen for creating digital scenarios that allow naval architects to design and implement projects at the South Shields Marine School.

Principal John Roach said: “Our 3D modelling team is in a field of its own in the UK in the expertise it has developed over the past two decades, and its achievements should be celebrated.

“We are known throughout the world for the strength of our maritime training, but this award gives us the global recognition we deserve in another field entirely.”

Dudley College of Technology, the largest provider of advanced vocational and technical education and apprenticeships in the West Midlands, was awarded the prize for “contributing to the economy of the region”.

The college’s chief executive Lowell Williams said: “I see this honour as recognition that further education can be the driver for economic regeneration, particularly of struggling towns in areas of the country that have been left behind by the under investment of successive governments, over many years.

“We never gave up on our vision. We took investment risks. And we always believed in the transformative power of further education. It goes to show so much can be achieved by so many people working together in one place for the good of that place.”

A total of 275 prizes have been awarded to 49 further education colleges and 98 universities since the awards were created in 1993. They are granted every two years.

The only other college to win an award outside of England was Belfast Metropolitan College.

Sir Damon Buffini, chair of the Royal Anniversary Trust, which manages the prizes, said: “Colleges and universities throughout the UK do exceptional work year after year that delivers benefits well beyond the institution – positively affecting education, the economy and wider society in many different ways.

“The criteria are demanding, and competition is strong; it is a great incentive to our colleges and universities to think critically about the direction of their work and its application and relevance in today’s world.”

The 22 award-winning UK further and higher education institutions were recognised this time for “ground-breaking work and pioneering research” in a range of disciplines including science, engineering, education, the humanities, the environment and medicine.

Entries to the scheme are invited in any subject area and are subject to assessment in a process managed by the Royal Anniversary Trust, an independent charity.

PIC: London South East Colleges celebrating winning The Queen’s Anniversary Prize

Refugees who achieved their qualifications after fleeing thousands of miles from their home nations are among the 11 winners of the WEA 2019 Educational Impact Awards.

The awards, which took place this evening, recognise learners, tutors, volunteers, partners and staff from across the nation who have “transformed their own lives and the lives of others through lifelong learning”.

Such as ten refugees and asylum seekers who completed their qualifications after fleeing from Eritrea, Sudan, Yemen and Iraq and have now won the outstanding student group for Science for ESOL Glasgow.

Seven of them gained SCQF level 4 and three gained a certificate of participation during their resettlement process, which the WEA says “gives inspiration to ESOL students across the country that there are different pathways available”.

The WEA’s deputy chief executive Jo Cain gave her congratulations to the winners, saying they are a “fantastic example of how adult education benefits individuals, their families and the communities they live in”.

She added that the awards “are a great way to recognise the impact of adult education”.

The winner of the Olive Cordell foundation student award, learner Hava Cil, has been accepted to study PGCE maths at the University of Oxford after moving from Turkey and studying with the WEA to improve her English.

The outstanding regional partner award has gone to the Dolphin Women’s Centre for providing local women in Washwood Heath – one of Birmingham’s most deprived wards – with creative courses and training and educational courses to support employment.

For his inspiring work teaching art classes to students with varied needs including students with MS, dementia and with mental health needs, Frank Ferrie was presented with the award for outstanding tutor.

Cathy Kirk took home the Olive Cordell foundation tutor award for her efforts with an intensive ESOL programme with the WEA.

Anne Hollis was recognised in the impact in the local community category for being instrumental in starting Reaching Out art classes and widening its reach.

“At a time when many classes are no longer running for students with disabilities,” the WEA said, “the programme has remained full and varied with student success and progress at the centre”.

The social impact award was won by Adult Signpost Haverhill for “their inspiring work with adults who risked becoming marginalised and socially excluded due to mental health conditions”.

And the outstanding student award has been won by Sarah Marie Birks, who started with the WEA’s Helping in Schools programme, which led to her getting a teaching assistant position. She is now starting a BA in education culture and childhood.

Twelve regional award winners have also received awards; and WEA fellowships were bestowed on NOCN group managing director Graham Hasting-Evans, chief executive of the Learning and Work Institute Stephen Evans and the executive chair of Together TV and former chief executive of the Media Trust Caroline Diehl.

FE Week is the official media partner of the WEA 2019 Educational Impact Awards, which are taking place as part of the association’s Adult Education Works campaign.

 

The winners are as follows:

• Outstanding student: Sarah Marie Birks
• Outstanding student group: Science for ESOL Glasgow
• Outstanding volunteer: Norma Hinson
• Impact in your local community: Anne Hollis
• Outstanding tutor: Frank Ferrie
• Outstanding staff member/team: Sam Jones
• Outstanding staff team: Midlands Engine ESOL project
• Outstanding regional partner: Dolphin Women’s Centre
• Social Impact award: Adult Signpost Haverhill
• Olive Cordell foundation tutor: Cathy Kirk
• Olive Cordell foundation student: Hava Cil